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Miranda Harcourt

“Miranda’s skills as a coach place her at the top of her field. The work she does is unique anywhere in the world.” – Peter Jackson; Regisseur ‘The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’, ‘The Lovely Bones

Miranda is a celebrated acting coach for TV and Film. She helps actors inhabit an authentic emotional world for their character that answers a director’s vision. She draws on a wide range of new and established methodologies to tailor an approach specific to each actor.

For the last decade, Miranda has coached for screen internationally and at home in NZ, including Garth Davis‘ Lion and Mary Magdalene, Jane Campion’s Bright Star and Top of the Lake, Gabor Csupo’s Bridge to Terabithia, Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones and many New Zealand films.

Sometimes she prep-coaches one actor for their role. Sometimes she is dedicated to one or two particular performances — for example, Rose McIver and Carolyn Dando in The Lovely Bones. Sometimes she is a rehearsal coach supporting the director as in Bright Star and Top of the Lake. Sometimes she coaches actors in ADR — for example on Taika Waititi’s Boy. And sometimes she coaches the entire young cast — for example on Lion, Mary Magdalene or Bridge to Terabithia.

In her work with actors Miranda aims to shift paradigms, empowering actors to realise their own talent. She introduces simple but innovative ways of thinking about and achieving connection and character. She has developed a series of tools and exercises for use in rehearsal and on-set that get actors to where they need to be, fast.

“Miranda is amazing. Working with her is always a new experience. She really helps me make each character truly unique. She is an inspiration and truly loves the art of film. I love the work I’ve gotten to do with Miranda!”– Isabelle Fuhrmann (‘The Hunger Games’, ‘The Orphan’)

Based on the principles of Stanislavski, Miranda’s work develops actors‘ spirit and actors‘ craft alongside each other. Other influences on her work include Verbatim practitioner Anna Deavere Smith and photographer Nan Goldin. Miranda draws teaching inspiration from a wide variety of sources including the worlds of photography, science and the visual arts. More about Miranda Harcourt.

“In this case, I brought her on to help the extras be really believable and ingrained in their performances, which is something that film-making often ignores. There is a traditional system that treats them as sheep and means they aren’t properly directed and engaged and I just felt I didn’t want to do that in this film. The extras are very important and the world I was creating was very important to me, so I wanted Miranda to enrich that world by workshopping them and getting them into that space. Also, she’s just a great mate and we sometimes have long conversations about the film and throw ideas around. Miranda’s a great intellectual co-pilot in that way and just a very special person.”– Garth Davis (Director: ‘Lion’, ‘Maria Magdalene’)